Man charged with aggravated child abuse in Ormond

Officials decided a boy should not return home after he showed them bruises that covered the back of his legs and rear end.

KATIE KUSTURASTAFF WRITER

When a boy told a school employee he was afraid to go home after his suspension because he would “get it,” the employee took the boy to a Volusia County sheriff's district office after the 11-year-old showed his bruises, police say.

A Department of Children & Families investigator was shown the bruises, which covered the backs of the boy's legs and his rear end, and decided with other officials that the boy should not return to his home, according to an Ormond Beach police charging affidavit. The boy told officials the bruises caused him to have trouble sitting for long periods of time.

When police spoke with Athena Nicols, the boy's mother, she said the spanking dealt by Raymond Sostre was not excessive and he was not angry or upset when it happened, according to the affidavit. Police said Nicols' speech was slightly slurred and slow, and she “took several long pauses between questions and at times changed the subject” when she was asked a direct question.

Nicols offered other situations in which her son may have suffered the bruises, like when he fell in the rain while running home from school, according to the affidavit. The boy told officials 30-year-old Sostre locked their home's door and shut the blinds before hitting him at least 10 times with a belt.

Sostre is charged with aggravated child abuse, according to the affidavit. He was arrested Thursday and has since posted $20,000 bail.